National Cheese Fondue Day

The first time I had fondue I was 15 and staying with a French family, the Brunots – old friends of my father’s. We went to visit the husband’s mother, “Mamine”, who lived in a chalet at an elevation of 1000 metres in the French Alps above a small town called Samoens, near Chamonix.

We drove there overnight, coming down to Geneva as it got dark and continuing on upwards as night fell. I remember marveling at the thick brown pallet of smog that hovered over this otherwise pristine and gleaming white city, nestled in its mountain valley with a secretive, glamorous air.

Because it was dark when we got there, I heard the Alps before I saw them. It was windy that high up, despite being full summer, and through the window came a sweeping sigh that hushed back and forth with a rhythm reminiscent of seaweed in the tide. That calm song – the sound of the pines that coat the mountains’ sides – stays with me to this day, as familiar as a loved one’s breathing.

In the morning, I was unprepared for the splendour outside. I’m from England, and the closest I had seen to a mountain was a fairly substantial hill. To the west of Mamine’s chalet, a giant crag of an Alp coated in snow and tipped with pink from the dawn reared up in blinding majesty.

We had fondue that day for Mamine’s birthday – as delicious and foreign to me as the Alps. Of course, the fun thing about fondue is having to do a forfeit when you drop your bread in the pot. Being a foreign guest, this mostly entailed people making me say “parce que” and falling about at how I pronounced it. Good times…

And now I live on the shoulders of a BC mountain tipped with snow, though it’s less craggy than an Alp. Just to prove that I’m not the only thing that travels well, and in the spirit of sustainability, today I bring you an all-BC fondue made with cheeses and wine produced right here. The only ingredient missing from the Alpine version is kirsch – but it works just fine.

This time, I used making fondue as an opportunity to christen a set my friend Mary gave me for Christmas, at a potluck with a group of friends to which we had been requested to bring food that had been locally produced.

MethodRub the fondue pot with garlic.
Toss the cornstarch with the cheese.
Heat the wine in a pot on the stove.
Stir in the cheese bit by bit til it’s melted.
Pour into the fondue pot.
Share with friends!

This recipe is so easy, and so delicious, I could hardly believe it! Les Amis at Park Royal are a dream as well – so helpful – and their cheese selection is second to none. You can also find them at Burrard and 2nd – highly recommended!

As the host of this event on Friday, I can attest to the heavenly fondue.

As a fondue newbie I started out tentatively dipping the corner of my bread cube in the molten cheese and delicately nibbling the corner bits. But a fondue like this needs to be indulged in and by my second piece I was following the lead of the fondue veterans and heartily plunging the cube in, stirring it around to get it fully coated and then lustily gobbling down the result.

I forgot to mention that my Swiss friend Jocelyne, who was at the potluck, had a couple of suggestions for leftover fondue – croque monsieur – bread with ham and cheese poured over, sandwiched and fried – or cheese sauce for veg.

Tonight I am blending the two ideas and treating it like the French do – pouring molten cheese sauce over boiled ham and potatoes. Yum!

I also love inviting my friends over for a fondue dinner or a dessert fondue. And quite frankly they really enjoy it as much as I do. I’m just not keen with the idea of bringing all the kids over at a dinner like that, perhaps when they’re bigger.